The Shrine Maiden stared at the strange person in confusion. They had long, white disheveled hair and deep purple eyes. Their appearance was extremely feminine but the way they held themself was rather masculine.
"Are you a visitor? I heard you saying something about staying a night or two here?" The shrine Maiden asked the person curiously while staying cautious. For all the maiden new this could be some crazy person, especially with their current appearance.
"Yes actually, I would like to stay her a night if possible." The shrine Maiden didn't answer right away, they simply stood silently for a while.
The strange person was about to speak once again before they were interrupted by the Shrine Maiden. "I will have to ask Lady Yae Miko. Could you just wait here for a moment?" The person seemed confused for a second and then spoke.
"Uhm? Yes of course, I will wait here. I suppose?" The Shrine Maiden was confused by his reaction but ignored it and walked further into the Shrine. She walked towards the Sacred Sakura, where Lady Yae Miko could normally be found.
"Oh? Inagi? What is it this time, dear?" Yae Miko asked casually not taking a moment to turn away from the Sacred Sakura.
Inagi bowed before she began to speak, "We have another visitor who wishes to stay. They say they would only like to stay a night if possible."
"Interesting.. Is there anything notable about this person?" Yae Miko asked as she diverted her attention from the Sacred Sakura. A clear sign she was genuinely curious.
"Well I suppose they look quite a mess and they're a just a bit strange." Inagi's words only interested Yae Miko more.
"Would you be a dear and bring this 'strange' person to me?" Yae Miko asked king with a soft smile.
Inagi bowed once more, "Of course Lady Guuji, just one moment please." Inagi stepped away from the shrine and went back towards the where she had left the strange person. When she got back the person was silently standing still with his eyes shut. Though something seemed different, she couldn't tell what though.
"Uhm Mr?" She called out to him. His eyes slowly opened as he placed his gaze onto Inagi.
"Oh my apologies, I was just meditating." He said in a calm tone his purple eyes glowed peacefully under the soft air of the shrine.
"No worries, the shrine is a place people come to exactly for reasons like that." Inagi responded with an accepting smile and a light tone, she was trying to be friendly and emphasize that she was not at all offended by his meditation.
"I see, thank you for your open attitude. Will I be allowed to stay here for a night?" The man simply asked after giving his thanks.
Inagi quickly responded, "I'm not quite sure but the Guuji Yae seems interested to speak to you, that's normally a good sign." The man nodded In understanding.
"I see." He simply answered, "Well where do I meet this 'Guuji?'." Inagi eyes widened slightly as she realized she had forgotten to say so. "Oh dear, my apologies!" She exclaimed clearly embarrassed from the small red hue on her phase.
"If you walk through the shrine and enter the garden you should find her sitting beside the Sacred Sakura." Inagi explained.
"And what of you?" The strange man asked curiously.
She smiled before answering his question, "I have a duty here so I will be staying you can just go on ahead." The man nodded understandingly and walked towards the entrance of the shrine. The shrine meticulously built over a large pond. The man couldn't help but admire how beautiful the structure was as he walked through towards the garden.
The structure wasn't too big so it didn't take long before he saw a large cherry tree. The tree was unusually shaped making up the face of a fox and a large pool of electro energy filled the air around said tree.
Sitting on the platform at the base of the tree was a woman in a shrine outfit. She had long pink hair and two pink fox ears.
"Are you Lady Yae Miko?" One of the woman's ears twitched and she slowly turned around with a smile.
Miko turned around and a sudden shock filled her being. All of the electro energy particles in the air warped around this strange entity. It was as if the electro energy respected this person. It was as if this person ruled over electro energy, like they had absolute authority.
"Well that's a shock indeed?" Miko said to herself. She had never seen the energy in the shine react this way to anything. The electro energy didn't even react this way around Ei and she was "The Electro Archon." For archon's sake. Whoever this person was, they were powerful.
"Sorry I didn't catch that." The man said but Miko shook him off.
"Do not worry about it. I am indeed Yae Miko Guuji of the Narukami shrine. Could I get your name?" Miko spoke normally, perfectly hiding the fact she had her guard up. She was often quite playful but a person such as this was not one to let your guard down around.
"Oh sure. My name is Noctis." The man, now known to be Noctis answered.
"What an interesting name you've got there. I hear you wish to stay in the Shrine for a night." The more Miko watched him the more she understood. The electro energy danced around him before eventually being absorbed into his body, and the more energy he absorbed the more energy that surrounded him. It was one big cycle all revolving around him.
She had no idea whatsoever how he was doing it but he was harnessing pure electro energy from the environment, but she wanted to learn. A being like this might help her better understand the Sacred Sakura. A being like him might be a big enough threat to Ei's eternity. If she allowed him to stay here his total energy would continue growing.
"Where do you plan on going after the night you stay here?" She asked Noctis curiously.
"Well you see after i spend a night here I think I'll go to Inazuma City. I want an audience with the Electro Archon."
It was perfect. The man before would defenintly be a big enough threat to Ei. Just from the time of their small conversation Noctis' presence had almost doubled. At this point the Sacred Sakura itself was being drained of energy.
"Very well. I think I will allow you to stay here for the night. Though I cannot promise a comfortable room." She answered, Noctis gave her an understanding nod.
"I don't expect maximum comfort. After all I'm the one asking for your hospitality." Miko smiled hearing his words and decided to get a bit more daring.
"After all I think it's a good investment to let such a cute man stay at the shrine~" She noticed that his posture faltered and instantly continued her onslaught. "We could get you a shrine Maiden outfit and you could be the mascot of the shrine. I'm sure that would draw in a lot more people. If it weren't for the vision hunt I would place money that tourists would come to see someone as feminine and cute as you."
"Nope! I'm definitely leaving right after my night here! Thanks for the offer but I'm alright!" Noctis practically screamed as a red hue spread across his features.
Miko noticed that as he became flustered this rate of absorbtion of the electro particles had slowed. 'So hes doing it consciously?' she thought to herself curiously.
'I suppose I have the entirety of today to do my teasi- I mean testing.' She set her goal in stone she would be watching him to see how the electro particles are absorbed throughout the night. She would also be focusing on the Sacred Sakura to see what happens to it after being drained of a lot of electro energy.
---
Elias
I was peacefully looking over the books sold by the Yae Publishing house when a sudden chill shot down spine. I tore my gaze away from the books in a flash, scanning my surroundings cautiously.
Nothing was there.
Despite carefully examining my surroundings and finding nothing, a sense of unease still grew within my being.
Once more I tried to pinpoint the source of the unusual feeling, this time I widened my search. I scanned practically the entirety of Narukami Island before I noticed it. A disturbence in the leylines, specifically the leylines connecting with the Sacred Sakura.
Large amounts of energy were being pretty much torn out from within the leylines. But, how... It's impossible. No mortal begin could withstand such raw energy, and there is no made technology to harness such energy either.
My mind raced with the many possibilities and probabilities but none of it made sense. It just shouldn't be possible. Not even an Archon could rip such power from a Leyline. I'm sure of it. Even the Dendro Archon, who's powers are mysterious to even me, would struggle with that much power.
At that moment, I placed down the book I had been observing and hastily made my way towards the exit of the city. It was of utmost importance I find the thing responsible for what could be the creation of a catastrophic problem.
As I exited the city and begun heading towards the shrine I once more struggled to piece together a coherent explanation. As my mind was lost in thought I hadn't realized where I had gone.
I had stumbled into a group of Nobushi.
One by one there gazes locked onto me, murderous intent was clear. The group of samurai surrounded me and slowly they began to unsheathe their Katana.
The largest Nobushi, I assume the boss, stood in the middle. His face was not visible but he bore a large straw jingasa and firey-red clothing. The majoirty of his face was covered by the shadow casted by his hat, but his sinister smile was still visible.
The man quickly unsheathed his sword and dashed towards me, a blur in my vision. A second later, my right shoulder was decorated with a nice deep cut and a leaking of crimson.
I grit my teeth in pain as I tried to move my right arm to no avail. "Hand over your valuables and you won't get anymore more hurt." The man's voice was hoarse and devoid of any mercy.
"Why should I believe that?" I asked as I moved my left hand onto my right shoulder, an attempt to slow the bleeding.
"Well, I left your arm on, didn't I?" The Nobushi answered with a sadistic grin. "I could've sliced the whole thing off if I wanted too!" He spoke once more, finishing his sentence with a rough laughed which prompted his crew to burst out in howl of wicked cackles right with him.
I let out a soft yet exhausted sigh as I released my grip on my shoulder. I closed my eyes gently and focused on my inner self. Deep within hiding away, the bottom of my being, the depths of my soul, the pits of my heart.
A strange power bellowed throughout.
My actions were paused when a sharp pain rang throughout my shoulder once more. I winced and physically recoiled as I moved my gaze to the source.
A tall man, quite muscular. He has longish, white spikey hair with pale red streaks. Though, his most noticeable feature were the horns sticking from his head. A Yokai, an Oni specifically.
Yokai. Ancient beings much better than humans at storing energy. But, still not capable enough to store the energy of Leylines, after all I would've have been more wary of Yae Miko.
A shocking realization shot down my as a bead of cold sweat. I can only remember a few individual ancient beings capable of storing such a tremendous amount of energy.
But why,
Why would a Sovereign still be alive.
(A/N) Another chapter complete. This one might be a bit hard to understand if you havent read A New Sixth, and for those who have. I hope you understand it. If you don't I can answer questions because obviously I did something wrong.
Anyway I really liked writing this chapter and I hope you enjoyed reading it, I do believe it was quite informative.